WECC Content Team
Centered on the theme Fortifying the Future: Advancing Resilience for the Energy Transition, the Wharton Energy & Climate Conference brings together leaders driving change across the energy landscape. This year’s keynote program features David Vahos, CEO of PECO; Patrick Raab, Commercialization Lead at X, The Moonshot Factory; and Richard Roloff, Managing Director at LS Power.
Their perspectives, bridging established utilities, breakthrough technologies, and infrastructure investment, will frame the conversation on how resilience can shape a more secure and sustainable energy future.
David Vahos
President & CEO, PECO
Professional History:
David was appointed the CEO of PECO Energy in May of this year, having previously spent ~30 years in the utilities industry working across the Exelon network. Prior to PECO, David spent 25+ years with Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE), most recently serving as CFO, before moving on to serve as CFO of Pepco Holdings (also an Exelon subsidiary, covering DC / broader Maryland, Delaware, and South Jersey). Joining PECO marks a return to the Philadelphia area for David, a graduate of Villanova University. He later earned his MBA from The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.
Overview of PECO and its Focus Areas:
PECO is Pennsylvania’s largest electric and natural gas utility, with ~2600 employees and serving ~1.6MM electric and ~500,000 gas customers. As the local delivery utility, PECO’s distribution service is regulated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, while high-voltage transmission planning and operations occur under PJM and FERC oversight. Because Pennsylvania offers retail choice, customers can select competitive electricity (and, in many areas, natural gas) suppliers, and the utility procures default supply through PUC-approved competitive auctions with costs passed through without markup.
Key current and upcoming focus areas for PECO include:
– Improving grid reliability & resilience, especially in face of more extreme and frequent weather events
– Strengthening grid infrastructure to support AI power demand (including recently announced projects in PA)
– Community engagement and outreach, including recent commitments in the form of support for community arts and individual cost management support
How do utilities like PECO play a role in ‘Fortifying the Future’ of Energy?
Utilities have a major role to play in enabling the energy transition and fortifying the grid. Though they are not (in deregulated markets) engaging in generation, they are responsible for ensuring affordable, reliable, and safe delivery to end customers. This means they are a major decision-maker in enabling initiatives such as:
– Increasing distribution capacity for more remote renewable sources (in collaboration with regional transmission organizations)
– Integrating distributed energy resources – resources connected at the distribution level (or behind the meter) that can either produce, store, or otherwise manage load
– Incentivizing energy efficiency through demand response programs
– Providing key demand and price anchors for clean energy producers (PECO and other utilities remain the primary demand source for providers through long-term PPA contracts)
Who might be interested in hearing about David’s work?
– Those seeking insight into the systems that keep homes and businesses in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania powered
– Those interested in the utility / ‘power purchasing’ area of the energy value chain
– Those interested in hearing how PECO is thinking about AI / data center energy demand and Pennsylvania’s role as a net energy exporter
– Those curious about corporate strategy in regulated industries
– Those curious about how improving smart grid and metering technology is changing customer energy use behavior
Further Reading:
– David speaks on his upcoming priorities as CEO
– Governor Shapiro and the PJM Grid
– PECO’s solar incentives program in action at the Elmwood Zoo
Patrick Raab
Commercialization Lead, X, The Moonshot Factory (Alphabet’s Innovation Lab)
Professional History:
Patrick leads commercialization initiatives at X, The Moonshot Factory (Alphabet/Google’s innovation lab), where his team focuses on bringing frontier technologies for the electric grid from concept to market. His path to this role involved over a decade spent across investing, infrastructure, and energy.
Prior to joining X, Patrick worked for Macquarie in energy and infrastructure investing, where he helped scale tech-enabled energy infrastructure solutions. Patrick obtained his bachelor’s from Boston College and MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.
Overview of X and its Focus Areas:
X is known for bold experiments and radical innovation. Patrick’s mandate is about making those moonshots happen in the energy sector, shaping how AI, infrastructure and other innovations get deployed at scale.
Examples of Patrick’s recent projects include:
– Partnering with PJM Interconnection to speed interconnection planning through AI, to accelerate clean energy capacity, and to treat data centers as grid-stabilizing assets
– Partnering with the UK’s National Energy System Operator on the Grand Optimiser Project, which uses AI to reimagine the balancing mechanism and bring advanced tools into the control room of the future
– Helping reimagine data centers as grid-stabilizing assets, not just energy consumers
– Supporting geospatial AI models from Google Research to accelerate resilience planning
How does X, The Moonshot Factory, play a role in ‘Fortifying the Future’ of Energy?
At X, The Moonshot Factory, teams like Tapestry are tackling one of the most complex challenges of the energy transition: modernizing the electric grid to handle the rapid rise of renewables, electrification, and digital demand. Guided by a mission to turn bold ideas into scalable impact, X applies breakthroughs in AI, data infrastructure, and systems thinking to reimagine how critical infrastructure is built and operated. Under Patrick’s leadership on the commercialization side, X is helping transform early-stage technologies into deployable solutions that make energy systems smarter, faster, and more resilient. By bridging the gap between experimental moonshots and real-world deployment, X is actively fortifying the future of energy, laying the digital and operational foundations for a cleaner, more reliable, and more connected grid.
Who might be interested in hearing about Patrick’s work?
If you’re interested in energy tech, infrastructure finance, policy or even just how AI will reshape energy systems, Patrick’s thoughts are for you. Namely:
– Students curious about AI, the grid, and system-level innovation
– Future investors and founders exploring advanced energy tech commercialization
– Policy-focused students who want to understand how capital and tech shape outcomes
– Anyone interested in how collaboration across industries can turn moonshot ideas into reality
Further Reading:
– Tapestry – A Google X Moonshot
– PJM, Google partner to speed grid interconnection using AI | Utility Dive
Rich Roloff
Managing Director, LS Power
Professional History:
Rich Roloff is a Managing Director (Private Equity) at LS Power in New York. Rich has spent almost his entire career with LS Power, working in various roles. Rich is a graduate of George Washington University.
Overview of LS Power and its Focus Areas:
LS Power is a development, investment, and operating company focused on power generation, electric transmission and energy infrastructure, founded in 1990.
The firm’s goal is “to develop and deliver the most reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy sources that can effectively be scaled today.”
LS Power’s business is comprised of three primary areas:
– Generation. LS Power Generation’s operating portfolio consists of 21,000 MW of capacity and spans both renewable and conventional generation.
– Grid: LS Power Grid comprises 7 operating utilities and over 780 miles of transmission lines.
– Solutions: LS Power Solutions deploys capital into groundbreaking and forward-facing energy infrastructure businesses, and helps them actively position for commercial success.
How does LS Power play a role in ‘Fortifying the Future’ of Energy?
LS Power plays a direct role in fortifying the future of energy by building the physical and financial backbone of a more resilient power system. Through its development and ownership of generation, storage, and transmission assets, LS Power strengthens the reliability and flexibility of the grid by ensuring that power can flow where and when it is needed most.
Its generation buildout spans both flexible natural gas and renewable assets, providing the dependable capacity required to balance intermittent resources while supporting the long-term shift toward cleaner supply. These projects help meet growing demand, stabilize regional markets, and maintain reliability during periods of system stress. Its transmission initiatives expand interregional capacity and enable greater renewable integration, while platforms such as REV Renewables and EVgo advance storage and electrification at scale.
Together, these efforts reinforce the three foundations of resilience (capacity, infrastructure, and technology) by adding flexible resources, modernizing critical grid networks, and enabling cleaner forms of energy use. In doing so, LS Power shows how private investment and technical execution can strengthen system stability as the grid undergoes rapid decarbonization and digital transformation.
Who might be interested in hearing about Rich’s work?
– Students interested in private equity and project financing in power and energy infrastructure
– Operators curious about how platforms like EVgo and REV Renewables are financed and scaled
– Anyone wanting an investor’s view of grid needs across generation, transmission, storage, and e-mobility
Further Reading
– LS Power
